The Athletic NBA Daily

Real, tangible basketball! We are finally here.
As we head into the 2026-27 NBA season, we have a few questions for our opening trio of games: Will Ausar Thompson ascend to Detroit’s second option alongside Cade Cunningham? What does Joe Mazzula regular season basketball look like without Jaylen Brown? Who will play off the ball in San Antonio’s three-guard lineup? Will the Knicks have a championship hangover?
Then, we’ll head to the pressure meter to assess Nick Nurse’s job security in Philadelphia, Chet Holmgren’s to-do list this season, Luka’s expectations and more.
And finally, we’ll check in on Ben Simmons’ devastating achilles injury and how Oklahoma City can build around Cason Wallace’s new contract.
Host: Dave DuFour
With: Es Baraheni
Producer: Zuri Irvin
Audio/Video: Josh Sexton
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The NBA preseason can be deceiving. Dave and Es walk you through what’s real and what’s fake, between: the Orlando Magic offense, Denver Nuggets role players, Matisse Thybulle in the Lakers starting lineup and NBA officiating points of emphasis.
Then, Sandro Mamukelashvili joins the show to discuss his decision-making process behind signing with the Lakers, how J.J. Redick envisions his role on the team, their team-bonding summer trip to Slovenia, his sense of urgency to return to the playoffs and the five greatest European NBA players of all time.
And we end the show with a quick recap of Anthony Edwards’ 2nd Annual Believe That Awards, which we do believe in.

Host: Dave DuFour
With: Es Baraheni
Producer: Zuri Irvin
Executive Producer: Andrew Schlecht
Audio/Video: Josh Sexton
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The NBA season is just days away, and every year there is a team that no one expects to win a lot games…..that wins a lot of games. Andrew Schlecht and Alex Speers are joined by Trill Bro Dude of the You Know Ball Podcast to guess which team that will be this year. Alex Speers gives context for each team that is a “Surprise Team” candidate and the guys debate why each team won’t be that team, then they answer a trivia question about each team. Then at the end the boys give who they think their “Surprise Team” of the year is.

And…. there is a special announcement for this season for Slam n Jam

Host: Andrew Schlecht and Alex Speers
With: Trill Bro Dude
Producer: Andrew Schlecht
Video Producer: Monica Compton
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From Cooper Flagg to Cam Boozer, the NBA is loaded with young, generational talent. Dave DuFour, Es Baraheni, and Andrew Schlecht are here to put players from the last 3 draft classes into tiers and attempt to project the future heading into the 2026-2027 NBA Season.

Host: Dave DuFour
With: Es Baraheni and Andrew Schlecht
Producer: Andrew Schlecht
Audio/Video: Josh Sexton
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Boston Celtics as the one seed, the Utah Jazz as a top-six seed, and the Washington Wizards as a top-eight seed? Dave DuFour and Es Baraheni are here to share predictions ahead of the 2026-2027 NBA season and give their League Pass power rankings.

Host: Dave DuFour
With: Es Baraheni
Producer: Andrew Schlecht
Audio/Video: Josh Sexton
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.